Citizenship
High School - November 2011
Character Education
Newsletters
Broward County Air
Quality Program
Take the Conservation & Climate Change (C3) Challenge!
rd
We are proud to announce the 3 annual Conservation & Climate Change (C3) Challenge! This
year, the C3 Challenge runs from September 19th to February 3rd. The C3 Challenge is an educational
competition intended to engage Broward County students, teachers, school administrators, staff, and
parents in practical actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at school and home. This competition
is aligned with the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards. Each month’s Character Education
Newsletter will feature one of the four focus areas of the C3, which are transportation, energy
conservation, waste reduction/recycling, and water conservation. November 12 is America Recycles
Day, therefore the theme for this month is waste reduction/recycling.
What do you have to do to win?
1.
Register your school by emailing airoutreach@broward.org
2.
Share the online Teacher Pledge with all the teachers and encourage them to complete it.
3.
Use the Toolkit to educate your students, parents and school administrators about how the
school can reduce its carbon footprint and submit a “Share your story” article about the school’s
accomplishments.
The top schools based on the pledge drive and “Share your story” will be selected for an on-site
assessment to determine the winning schools for elementary, middle and high.
Go Green
Climate Change
Broward County Kids
Corner
NatureScape Broward
Upcoming Events
November:
America Recycles Day
C3 Challenge
December:
Clean Air Poster Contest
January:
Clean Air Poster Contest
Speak to your principal and help promote the C3 Challenge in your school. We provide a C3 Toolkit
with excellent ideas on how to promote the Challenge and encourage other teachers, students and
parents to participate. Our staff is also available to make presentations during staff meetings or school
assemblies.
February:
Clean Air Poster Contest
For more information visit
www.broward.org/PollutionPrevention/AirQuality/EducationalPrograms/Pages/C3.aspx.
March:
Clean Air Poster Contest
Water Matters Day
If you would like to receive additional color copies of the competition announcement to display around
your school, please e-mail us at airoutreach@broward.org or call 954-519-1260.
@Broward Environment
Conduct a Waste Audit For Your School
Objective: This activity will help students determine the composition of the school’s waste stream and
determine how much of the solid waste can be diverted into the school’s recycling bins.
Materials:

Latex gloves

Disposable tarps (see procedure below for explanation)

Scale

Large plastic bags
Background: Every time we throw something away we also throw away the energy, money, raw
materials, and water it took to make it. The average American throws away over 4 pounds of garbage
per day.
Each year, it is estimated that Americans throw away:

more than one million tons of aluminum cans and foil

more than 11 million tons of glass bottles and jars

more than four and a half million tons of office paper

nearly 10 million tons of newspaper per year
Almost all of this material could be recycled. Recycling saves large amounts of energy. Recycling one
glass jar saves enough energy to light a 100-watt light bulb for four hours. Recycling one soda can
save as much energy as if the can was half full of gasoline. When products are recycled, fewer raw
materials are used. Americans throw away 35 billion aluminum cans every year. Recycling paper
reduces the pressure on our forests for wood pulp. Forests also absorb and sequester carbon dioxide
(CO2), the primary human source of climate change.
Procedure:
Select a location for your students to conduct the waste analysis, such as the staff lounge or the
school’s courtyard.
Wearing gloves, students will collect the waste from the designated area and place it on a disposable
tarp. The students will then sort the waste into the different waste types and record the information in
the School Waste Composition Chart (see below).
Each type of waste will be placed in a plastic bag and weighed on a scale individually and then added
together with the other results to find the collective total for each day. Repeat the above steps for a
total of three days.
Examine and summarize the collected data at the end of the three days.
Follow-Up Exercise:
Discuss the following questions in class.

What items are most commonly found in waste containers?

Are any of the items found accepted for recycling by the school?

Are recycling bins present at our school? If so, could we use more bins to improve recycling?

Discuss and develop a plan to improve or start a recycling program at the school to keep
recyclable items out of the waste stream.
Resources: Broward County Solid Waste & Recycling Services
www.broward.org/WasteAndRecycling/Pages/Default.aspx
Sources: www.headwatersrecycle.com/why.html; www.learner.org/interactives/garbage/intro.html
@Broward Environment’s
Channel
PET stands for polyethylene terephthalate, a plastic resin and a form of polyester. PET is the type of plastic
labeled with the #1 code on or near the bottom of bottles and containers and is commonly used to package soft
drinks, water, juice, peanut butter, bakery goods, produce, frozen foods, salad dressings and oil, cosmetics and
household cleaner and many other products.
HDPE: Plastic milk containers and the non-clear variety of water jugs are made of High Density
Polyethylene.
Close the Loop: Buy Recycled Products Public Service Announcement
Background: The three-arrow recycling symbol represents the three steps of recycling:
1. collection of recyclables
2. manufacturing new products from recyclables
3. buying recycled
The phrase “Close the Loop” refers to the idea that buying products with recycled content finishes the
loop made by the three arrows in the recycling symbol. The three-arrow recycling symbol does not
always indicate that a product is made from recycled content. It can simply be a reminder to recycle or
can indicate that the product is recyclable.
There may also be labels on the product that describe the amount of post-consumer material included
in the product. Post-consumer content is material that has been through consumer hands or material
that people have used and recycled. Other recycled content is usually factory leftovers such as
material left over after a box has been cut from a pattern or items reclaimed from the factory floor.
Buying recycled content material saves natural resources such as trees, land, and energy. Buying
recycled encourages companies to use recycled materials in their products. Some examples of
recycled content products include: newspapers, bathroom tissue, or notebook paper made from
recycled paper; aluminum cans, pie tins, or bleachers made from recycled aluminum cans; fleece
jackets, toys, T-shirts, lumber and playground equipment made from recycled plastic bottles.
Activity:
Review the background information to the students. Remind them that they must make a choice each
time they recycle. There is also a choice involved with buying products made with recycled content.
Useful information about recycling and how recycled materials are used in new products is available on
the Broward County Solid Waste & Recycling site.
Many educators believe that the best way to learn about a topic is to prepare oneself to teach or
explain the topic to others. Students will work in groups to create a Public Service Announcement
(PSA) to explain the importance of buying recycled and recycled content. Students could create a skit
to present to their class, a lower grade, or other assemblies, a spot for morning announcements (either
intercom or television), or a short video. The project should focus not only on why recycling is
important, but should explain why buying recycled is also important.
Using the three numbered items in the background section above, students should explain what
“recycled content” means and how to determine whether or not a product contains recycled content.
Also, the PSA should explain why buying recycled content is important and how the three-arrow
recycling symbol consists of three steps: 1) collection of recyclables, 2) manufacturing new products
from recyclables, and 3) buying recycled. They should also explain the phrase “close the loop.” The
presentation should be brief, yet extensive enough to convey the topic adequately.
Students should then present their teaching tool to the class and receive comments from the class as
to how it could be improved. As a follow up, air the Public Service Announcements on the morning
announcements for the school to see.
Resources: Broward County Solid Waste & Recycling Services
www.broward.org/WasteAndRecycling/Pages/Default.aspx
Gladys and Hipolito found out that their high school is starting a recycling program. They read the
educational flyer on recycling which was passed around school and found out that the U.S. recycling
rate for aluminum beverage cans has reached its highest level in more than a decade, with 58.1
percent of all cans recycled in 2010. Further, Americans recycled nearly 56 billion aluminum cans last
year. And since it takes 95 percent less energy to produce a can from recycled materials, the increase
in recycling meant huge oil savings. How many years does it take a single aluminum can to
decompose?
A. 2 – 4 years
B. 10 – 20 years
C. 80 – 100 years
D. 100 – 120 years
Answer: C – It takes an average aluminum can between 80 and 100 years to decompose
Sources: www.ecofriendlykids.co.uk/energyrecyclingquiz.html; http://earth911.com/recycling/metal/aluminum-can/
America Recycles Day Celebration Dates
City of Sunrise’s 3rd Annual Cultural Festival
Saturday, November 5th, 1:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
City of Sunrise City Park
6700 Sunset Strip
Sunrise, FL
2nd Annual America Recycles Day Celebration
Saturday, November 12th, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Vista View Park
4001 SW 142 Avenue
Davie, FL
Broward Green Expo, hosted by the City of Lauderhill
Friday, November 18th, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Inverrary Vacation Resort
3501 Inverrary Blvd.
Fort Lauderdale, FL
RecycleMania at Young At Art Museum
Saturday, November 19th
11584 W State Road 84
Davie, FL
For more information, visit www.broward.org/WasteAndRecycling
Spread the Word!!!
Subscribe to our FREE electronic Character Education Science FCAT Warm-up
Newsletters Today!
The monthly edition of this newsletter is distributed only through a FREE electronic e-mail
subscriber list. E-mail the Broward County Pollution Prevention, Remediation & Air Quality
Division at airoutreach@broward.org to receive this valuable curriculum resource. The
newsletters are also available on our Environmental Kids Club web site at
www.broward.org/kids. Archived copies of the newsletter are also available through the
School Board’s BEEP system.
Need Ideas for the Upcoming Science Fair?
Students can visit our Character Education Newsletter page at
http://www.broward.org/Kids/CharacterEducation/Pages/CharacterEducation.aspx to view
past newsletters and get great ideas for the upcoming Broward County Science Fair. Ideas
can include:

Build Your Own Watershed (March 2010)

Calculate Your Personal Impact (September 2010)

Cars & Carbon Dioxide (November 2009)

Power To the People: Energy in Florida (October 2009)

Shed 3 Tons in 10 Easy Steps (January 2009)

Water Conservation Plan (March 2009)
Other science fair ideas can be found online. By using a search engine, students can choose
interesting themes such as:

Is it Getting Hot in Here? Investigate the Greenhouse Effect

Lead Levels in Local Soil

Mapping Tropospheric Ozone Levels Over Time

Recycling Greywater: Can Plants Tolerate It?

Too Much of a Good Thing? Study the Effect of Fertilizers
Source: www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/recommender_interest_area.php?ia=EnvSci